>> welcome to the "journal" from dw in berlin. >> coming up -- syrian rebels face a u.s. probe for alleged war crimes after a video appears to show mass executions of prisoners. >> president barack obama and republican challenger mitt romney go back on the attack in the final stages of the election battle. >> and seeking clarity -- german chancellor angel merkel on how to develop renewable energy.

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we begin in syria where the military is currently stepping up its use of airpower in an effort to defeat the rebels. >> opposition forces say at least 70 people have been killed in an air strike near the turkish border. meanwhile, a video emerges of what appears to be opposition fighters executing government soldiers. >> the un says that if the video is authenticated, the action would constitute a war crime. >> as their prisoners cower in terror, rebels celebrate. this video is said to of been recorded in northwestern syria. government forces and rebels have been fighting there for weeks. on thursday, rebels stormed several army checkpoints. they appear to have captured these government soldiers. in the video, rebels yell, "you are assad's dogs" at their captives, and then they prayed. after that, they fired round

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after round, killing at least 10 of those prisoners. the united nations is trying to verify the video and says the killings probably constituted a war crime and those responsible should be punished. >> it looks very likely that this is a war crime, another one. unfortunately, this could be the latest in a stream of documented executions by opposition as well as government forces and its affiliated with them. >> there's been heavy fighting with government planes bombing rebel positions near the turkish border as well as in the capital damascus. >> the conflict between the government and rebels in syria has meant misery for millions of people. >> the united nations says it is having trouble collecting money pledged to help alleviate their plight. the united nations says member states have promised some 270 million euros in aid for victims

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of the serious conflict, but less than half of that has actually been paid into the emergency fund. the un estimates that up to 1.5 million people could be in need of aid because of the crisis. well, the race for the white house is entering the final stretch. both president obama and his challenger mitt romney will be spending the final days of their campaigns in swing states like wisconsin, ohio, and virginia. >> one big issue in the election has been struggling u.s. economy, but latest jobs numbers released today show some slight improvement in the number of people out of work in october. >> the pace of recovery is slow, but it is sure to be news that both campaigns will be spending in their bid for the white house. >> ohio is the latest stop on the campaign trail. it is a key swing state with a history of voting for the overall winner. that is why barack obama was in the state capital columbus on friday.

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he's hoping the latest labor market numbers will give him a boost. employment rose slightly. >> the company has hired more workers in october than at any time in the last eight months. >> said the president thinks things are improving, but his challenger mitt romney says the economy is stagnating. at a rally in wisconsin, he also accused obama of failing to fulfill his promises. >> candidate obama promised change, but he could not deliver it. i promise change, but i have a record of achieving it. >> not everyone sees that as the main issue. new york's conservative mayor michael bloomberg has endorsed obama because of his efforts to halt climate change. bloomberg once like to get back to normal and has allowed the new york marathon to go ahead on sunday. >> there's an awful lot of small businesses that depend on these

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people. we have to have an economy. lots of people have come here. it is a great event for new york, and i think for those who were lost, you have got to believe they want us to have an economy and have a city go on for those that they left behind. >> many new yorkers are struggling to cope in the storm's aftermath. a fuel shortage is causing long lines at gas stations, and many areas will have to wait several days for power, but the mayor says resources will not be diverted from those in need because of the marathon. >> tension is growing in the u.s. ahead of next week's election, but is it having an influence on the markets over here in germany? our correspondence sent us this report from the frankfurt stock exchange. >> the last unemployment numbers before the presidential election in the u.s. have been noticed all over the world at the financial markets.

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numbers have been mixed. the unemployment rate went up slightly, but which was more important? the number of the newly created jobs went up higher than expected. this gave a boost also to german shares. the dax went up again at the end of this week while telecom shares were slightly down here there have been rumors that telecom plans to cut next year. >> let's take a closer look at some market numbers -- the dax ended the day just over 0.3% up. the euro stocks -- stoxx 50 close 0.5% up. the dow jones is currently going down 0.75%, and the euro is trading at $1.2830. >> one company whose shares in the u.s. did well is coffee giant starbucks, which has announced it is raising its profit forecast for this fiscal

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year by 9.8%. >> but the company is in hot water in britain where critics say starbucks is paying miniscule sums in tax despite ending billions in recent years. in germany, the company pays no tax. in 2011, despite a turnover of 117 million euros, the company reported a loss of more than 5 million. there's been a turnaround in german car sales in october. although sales of new cars have been in the slow lane for most of 2012. last month, german salesmen sold 260,000 new cars, a slight increase on september's figure. still, sales for the first 10 months of the year are down on last year's figure. car sales are a key indicator of how well the german economy, europe's largest, is traveling. >> chancellor merkel has been meeting with the heads of the country's 16 federal states.

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>> she wants a consensus on how germany will meet its energy needs following the phase-out of nuclear power in 2020. many german states have plans to expand wind energy and other alternative sources of power. >> but that are major concerns that the cost of energy for consumers could skyrocket. >> it was high noon at the chancellor's office in berlin. demonstrators give the environment minister a petition with 100,000 signatures calling for germany to stick to its energy policy, phasing out nuclear and boosting renewals, but the minister says the switch must not be too expensive. >> it is also true that the costs have to be affordable for the economy, for individual citizens, entrepreneurs, artisans, small business people, and the middle classes. >> one week ago, all 16 of germany's federal states pledged

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to support the government's federal energy strategy. the chancellor was encouraged to see politicians come together across party lines. am i think at our meeting today, everyone understood that the task ahead is huge and that everyone must do their part. >> offshore when parks was a major topic of friday's meeting of federal and state leaders -- offshore wind parks. it is a subject close to the heart of germany's coastal states. >> the tenor of the meeting is that we should organize one big plan, not 16 little ones forming a whole. so we feel good about today. >> the chancellor did not announce any specific results of the meeting and said there would be further discussions on energy policy. >> for more now, we are joined by our political correspondent. there seems to be a complete lack of unity on how to achieve the goal of 40% of renewable energy by 2020.

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why the disagreement? >> apart from the enormous technical complexity, there's a lot of money at stake, and there are a lot of interest groups, all of whom are trying to get as big a part of the pie as they can get their hands on. on the one hand, of course, there are the energy intensive industries who at present enjoy tax benefits and rebates, and there are then the utility companies, obviously trying to maximize their share of profits, and then, there are the 16 federal states, each of them of course looking for their own economic advantage, and then there are finally the consumer interest groups, who are bemoaning the fact that ordinary citizens, it seems, are having to pay an unfair share of the financial costs. >> so what can be done then to limit the rise in costs for consumers? >> well, i mentioned that there are at present a full your

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energy-intensive industries that are special concessions and indirect subsidies, but that is unlikely to change under angela merkel's center-right government. in fact, even if it did and the costs -- more of the costs were passed on to industry, i suspect that the ordinary citizen would still have to pay a large share of the costs, that industry would probably just passed a large part of those costs onto the consumer, but a majority of people in germany do want this energy change. they know it is expensive. they will have to pay for it. >> thanks for that analysis. >> travelers in germany will soon have no options to choose from because the government is finally allowing bus companies to compete with the national rail service on long-distance routes. >> deregulation will come into effect at the beginning of next year. analysts say consumers can expect to benefit from lower

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fares. >> at the moment, when you travel more than 100 kilometers, you consider driving or taking the train or plane. germans do not even think of taking the bus. >> in 1934, the government made the national rail company the only player in long distance traveled. its successor has already lost its monopoly on the tracks, and as of next year, long distance bus travel will be allowed as well. one condition remains -- in order to protect local public transport, the market is only being opened up for journeys longer than 50 kilometers. >> many asian cities are growing quickly, and some megacities will soon reach the 50 million

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inhabitants mark, and how can transportation networks be arranged for these number of people? >> urban mobility is one of the key themes being discussed at the asia-pacific conference of german business taking place in delhi. for insight into some of the chaos that needs to be overcome, it is right in front of the door. >> many residents are forced to spend hours on gridlock roads every day, and it is only getting worse. the amount of traffic is increasing by more than 10% every year. road infrastructure simply cannot keep up. >> in the next 20 years, billions more people will move to cities. we have to start planning for that so we can stay ahead of the growth. instead of trying to catch up and make order out of chaos. >> trucks in india averaged just 21 kilometers per hour. that makes transporting

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perishable food a big challenge. public transport systems are also out of date. cities like delhi are growing too quickly. >> innovative transportation concepts are required to prevent cities from collapse, but only a few asian cities have already laid ground to cope with future needs. >> one theme at the asia-pacific conference of german business is that the infrastructure of asian cities needs to be completely reexamined. everything from roads to electricity. >> there is not enough capacity for power generation here. that has to be improved, and in the delivery of electricity, there are losses of up to 25% between the power station and the customer. >> german companies hope to play a role in upgrading and expanding the infrastructure. >> still to come, who are the next rulers of china? >> and how a german university

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is relocating to the red sea. >> we will be back in one minute with more. >> stick around.

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>> welcome back. while the u.s. goes to the polls next week, china's political elite will be preparing to hand over power. >> 500 top officials are attending the secretive special committee meeting to finalize appointments ahead of the 18th party congress, which begins next week. >> analysts say anyone hoping for major reforms in china will be disappointed, though, with the new lineup reportedly dominated by party conservatives. >> china's communist party is gearing up for its 18th congress. the chinese people have no say in who will be their next

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leader. >> i have only heard that she will be the next leader of the country. i am just a normal citizen. how can i know more? >> the old government picked him out, so he is a good choice. i cannot say anything else. >> in china, power is often inherited, and family connections helped him rise quickly through the ranks. she has cultivated a relaxed and sophisticated image, a rarity in the stodgy world of chinese politics. he has a reputation for taking a hard line against corruption, but there are reports that his own family has amassed a private

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fortune. perhaps not unlike the outgoing premier. the "new york times" estimates his worth at 2.1 billion euros, reports he vigorously denies. >> corruption is a result of in transparency and a political system that connects everything behind closed doors. as long as political decisions are made in secret, there will be corruption and it will get worse. >> the choreographed hanover has not been a smooth one. there have been bitter fights for control of the most powerful position. in left-wing populist is one of the losers of the power struggles. many predicted he would get a coveted position, but his wife was convicted of murdering a

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british businessman, and he's accused of covering up the crime. he now faces charges of corruption and abuse of power. >> nobody can see inside. he broke many laws but still made it to the top. >> his fall has weaken the party's left wing. much like the hand over power, future reforms will be decided behind closed doors. >> located near the red sea, the facility offers three master's degree programs using german educational standards.

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>> in the egyptian desert directly next to the resort is where you'll find the egyptian satellite campus of the technical university of berlin. the campus cost 40 million euros to build. it is the brainchild of an egyptian multimillion there. the result is the 10,000 square meter campus. students enrolled in energy engineering, urban development, and water engineering. as to the body consists of 27

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men and three women from india, china, south africa and egypt. >> i want a program that is more or less a mix of here and abroad. i did not want to do two consecutive years in germany, and i'm afraid i will never come back to egypt. >> the university wants students to go home when they graduate and contribute to their country's development. this didn't come from johannesburg to study water and engineering. she will be spending her second semester in berlin. >> i am looking forward to it. hopefully i come back in october. that should be really cool. i look forward to meeting new people in berlin in making new friends. >> many universities in germany can only dream of universities like these. it is the only institution of

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its kind in the world. >> we are traditionally an internationally oriented university, so it is a logical step to export our vision of education abroad. i think it will hugely boost our international reputation and the perception of our university abroad. >> the student dormitory is next to the campus. tuition is 5000 euros a semester. >> i miss my family, my mom, my dad, my sisters. but it is something that has to be done. >> the campus is still quite empty. in future a to play home to up to 500 students. >> finance ministers from the group of 20 nations will meet in

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mexico this weekend and discuss many issues facing the global economy. one key topic is how to shore up international banks that are considered too big to fail. >> since the to the as a crisis, banks all over the world have faced regulatory action, but the g-20 is considering regulatory actions to shore up some of the world's top financial institutions. >> one of them is germany's biggest bank. then a dutch bank is the last remaining german bank considered to be powerless -- powerful enough to shake the world financial system if it were to hit a crisis. according to a study carried out on behalf of the key 20, deutsche bank is one of of your bank's worldwide that poses a particular threat. all four banks provide customers with loans and manage their savings. but they are also involved in high-risk investment banking. the banks are u.s.-based citigroup, deutsche bank, a british bank hsbc, and jpmorgan

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chase. following the financial crisis, all four of the banks were required to create capital offers to help offset the risk of a crash, but that hurts the bottom line. still, banks such as germany's commerzbank show that more caution is still advise. >> in russia, speculation is rife about the health of vladimir putin. this after the russian president canceled his traditional end of the year call-in show. >> he was also seen living in public. the kremlin says he's fine, but not everyone is convinced. >> in these images from state television, putin seems to be in discomfort.

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>> i read something on the internet, but i do not think he is seriously ill. everyone has the odd a campaign. >> by september, putin had a noticeable limp. the kremlin said he had pulled a muscle doing judo. >> that is something putin has painstakingly avoided in his 30 years as russia's most powerful politician. he has always been keen to project an image of himself as a virile and vulnerable leader. >> putin will do anything to say in power. anyone who has power clings to it. >> another source of pain might

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be the latest opinion polls. they suggest that only 15% of russians approve of the way he is running the country. >> well, some sports news now. in formula one racing, sebastian fettle will be looking to take another step towards his third straight title at this week in's of about the grand prix. >> the rebel drive to set the pace at practice sessions. louis hamilton has been the second fastest. for now no alonzo could only clock the seventh fastest time in. >> finally, a golden oldie of the nasa space fleet has had its final countdown. nasa space shuttle atlantis blasted off on thursday. >> the space shuttle was not

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headed for a galaxy far, far away. instead, it took a cruise down the freeway to the space center's museum. the american-based shuttle program was in action for three decades, but it has returned because nasa has now made mars its final frontier. >> i guess we will never get to ride the space shuttle. >> i would love to sit in it. >> that is it for now. thanks for watching. >> do not forget, you can find more on our website at dw.de. see you soon. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--